The Cheater
by PrettyLittleHuman
Summary: Jane Dare lived her life as a shunned storytelling con artist with her beloved sister, until one night when she's swept away to Neverland with Angela by accident. Peter Pan doesn't like cheaters, and is always one step ahead, but how will he fair against a girl whose made her life out of cheating others? Three-Shot Story. Pan/OC slight cursing, fighting, general bitching. ENJOY!
1. Part I

**Once Upon A Time, there lived a young girl named Jane and her older sister Angela.**

** Though their parents left just before Jane was six years old, the two loved each other dearly and took care of each other.**

** Angela, being the elder of the two, was responsible and headstrong. She often gave much needed words of wisdom to her little sister who could safely be referred to as the more rambunctious, and constantly pushed her to do better.**

** Jane was always imaginative, always having a great story to tell, be it her own or a simple fairytale. However, despite her childish imaginings, she was clever and you could always tell when she's was pissed when her Brooklyn twang came out-that red hair was no lie!**

** But it seemed no one shared Jane's creative spirit, or at least to her degree and willingness to show it off. Her neighbors, schoolmates, and even once in awhile her teachers called her immature, stupid, and sometimes crazy.**

** Jane's rebellion from these people was her self-proclaimed job as a New York con artist. The one way an imaginative storyteller could make money, in her opinion.**

_"Oh please! Will you give me some cash? Some freak tried to mug me and I just want to go home!"_

** Was the kind of thing she'd say on a normal day, and she'd get about fifteen to twenty dollars if the person believed.**

_"Say mister, you got any change to spare? I'm all alone and I just need a bite to eat."_

**The lies went on and on, and after a shaky few years learning to ropes, Jane was one of the most notorious con artists by the time she was sixteen. However, she always took half her earnings and snuck them into her sister's wallet, hoping to help in some way since she was never good at keeping house-or at least, was a bit lazy at it.**

** One night, after Angela returned from her night classes, Jane complained of her fellow schoolmates calling her crazy again.**

** The taunting was always hurtful, but when Jane got home before her sister, she heard on the answering machine a message from her principal who extended his 'deep concern' for Jane's social skills and suggested Angela come in to discuss sending her to a 'better equipped' school.**

_"I'm not hurting anyone! So what if I like to talk about fairies, and mermaids, and hell even still like to believe in Santa sometimes! They're all just frackin' hypocrites, they believed at some point, and now they just wanna crawl back into their little holes-"_

_ "Jane, people don't care if you have your own recreated ideas of childhood fantasy, when people hear a sixteen year old believes in Santa Claus they don't look kindly on it."_

_ "Hey! At least the S-Man was real at some point in time. Anyone forget Saint Nicholas? Patron Saint of children? Sure all you Jesus freaks will remember non-existing 'EVIDENCE' quote unquote about how homosexuality is bad, but no one remembers a man who gave up his fortune to make children happy and get three poor sisters out of prostitution!" _

**She shouted at the window in frustration, while Angela watched with only mild interest-after all, this wasn't the first rant Jane would go on about beliefs and fantasy in the world, **_"What's wrong with believing in it? 'Cause I for one, frackin' believe! I believe!"_

**She went on, **_"I would also like to point out that these 'adults' who know better than 'stupid little kids' not only are the ones feeding us these stories we are expected to be ashamed of believing, but they also were the ones who thought up an anthropomorphic giant rabbit whose climbin' in yo windows and snatchin' yo carrots up who shits out chocolate eggs all over your house… What the hell were you smoking?"_

_ "We're two years old, of course we're gonna believe you. But what's your excuse, people who thought this up? What? And while we're on the subject, I know a lot of people say its teaching children it's okay to break in and enter someone's home and eat their food, but I disagree."_

_ "You are offering up an invitation to these creatures; you are offering up food-or a 'portion of your harvest' to these anthropomorphized or otherwise 'godlike' beings in exchange for some kind of gift- the only difference is it's not a virgin, and yeah coal may be a bitch to get out of your socks but at least the penalty for wrongdoing doesn't involve vultures tearing at your insides like Prometheus-suddenly that stain-remover is lookin' pretty cheap isn't it?" _

_"I'm just sayin', for a generally Christian or otherwise Catholic based holiday, seems pretty Pagan to me! Which I have no problem with, at all! Just be honest with yourself here!"_

**Angela had her eyebrows raised in a somewhat disinterested manner, and simply asked, **_"Feel better now?"_

**Jane shook her head, sitting down next to her by the window, and calmly lamented how she'd become such a freak in the eyes of her society they want to send her to 'special school'.**

** But Angela hugged her tightly, and told her that they had no sufficient reason to kick her out, that it wouldn't happen. But she warned her of her antics at school,**

_"People don't care Jane, if you're not hurting people, if you stay to yourself. They just don't care, no one is gonna take the time to actually ask, and talk about why you believe. It's a fact of life; you have to wait a long time before you will find the select few who will."_

**Then she pointed out that Jane did use belief to hurt people, with her job as a con artist. Angela didn't like what her sister was doing, and told her to stop every time she noticed more money than usual in her wallet.**

** Multiple times Jane would lie and say she'd quit and then try to think up craftier ways to sneak her money. Tonight was yet another night she lied and said she would stop; of course Angela stopped believing her but was tired and just told Jane to go to bed.**

** On that night however, when Jane went to bed, she was awoken by a strange noise. She opened her eyes to at first think she saw bright yellow headlights, but looked closer and saw they were eyes of this shadow creature that was flying towards her.**

** She screamed, and backed away, but found it was behind her grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the window. She screamed for Angela, who woke up to see something taking her sister and ran over just as it took her to the window.**

** Both girls tried to make the shadow surrender her, but nothing could stop it, and just before it was out of reach Angela latched onto the shadow's other arm to follow her sister.**

** Unable to loosen Angela, the shadow continued its journey to Neverland, where the girls finally set themselves free over a small shallow end of the water.**

** Confused and tired, Angela and Jane slowly walked to the shore where they rested upon the rocks to breathe. Having no idea where they were, the girls discussed trying to find some source of fresh water or a place to sleep.**

_"Angela, I'm really getting scared here. How are we gonna get out of here, wherever here is."_

_ "One step at a time." _**She said, **_"First we find a way to survive while we are here, then we start looking for an exit."_

_ "Which definitely won't be easy given that we were brought here by a demon-ghost-thing."_

_ "No it won't. But it's not impossible. If we got here we can get out."_

_ "How can you be so sure?"_

**She smiled somewhat sympathetically at Jane, **_"Cause no matter what, I know I've got you to watch my back Mei Mei."_

** Jane smiled at Angela's little endearment for her but sighed at their circumstances, just as she heard her sister humming "She's Got A Way" by Billy Joel-an old favorite of their's. She grinned and followed Angela, until suddenly they heard voices, and they didn't seem friendly.**

** The ran until they got to some large stones, from which they peeked out a bit to see some boys running about in strange dress and wielding poorly made weaponry.**

_"Where are the newcomers?" _**The boy with the scar asked.**

_"They were by the shore Pan said, but they must have gone."_

_ "Clearly." _**He said, slightly irritated, **_"Find them. Now."_

** Once they escaped the boys, Jane found a cave that they decided to wait in till morning before searching for an escape or at least food, and set up camp in the cave they found.**

** But just before they went to sleep, Angela became oddly distracted by something, and told Jane she heard beautiful music.**

_"Don't you hear it?"_

_ "No, I don't hear anything." _**Jane said nervously.**

_"It's so beautiful. Maybe the person playing will help us-"_

_ "No!" _**Jane grabbed her sister's arm, **_"Look at me. Focus. You are hearing something that I don't, don't you find that at least a little suspicious?"_

_ "Maybe it's magic."_**Angela said dreamily, **_"You're always telling me about magic."_

_ "Yeah, and in any story mysterious music ALWAYS works out." _**Jane pointed out as she pulled a struggling Angela away from the entrance of the cave.**

_"Just let me follow it!" _

**Angela pushed Jane off of her and began to go outside to follow the music. But just as she reached a foot outside, Jane had taken a small log and smashed it against her head, knocking her out.**

_"Sorry."_

** She watched over Angela the rest of the night, never stopping to sleep, and when morning came Jane was relieved to know her sister did not still hear the music. Angela, now out of the trance, truly believed that there was something evil on the island that was intent on harming her and her little sister.**

** She made Jane swear profusely that even if she started to hear the music, she would never ever follow it, no matter what. Jane promised immediately, swearing on her life that nothing would tempt her to go after the music if she ever heard it.**

** For the next few days, Angela didn't hear the music, and they had made a home out of the caves. Jane would either be gathering water and berries or protecting the camp, while Angela set up traps to catch animals and cook them for the meat.**

** They managed to avoid the Lost Boys-as they soon found out they were called- until one day, while Jane was gathering berries with her sister.**

** Little did they know that Peter Pan had been watching the two for the time they'd spent on his island, learning their routines and names, plotting his own way to get them. He learned that they were staying in the Echo Caves, which was why he couldn't track them for a while.**

** He liked Jane's fairly quick-mind and childish antics, reminding him of some his lost boys. But he took a particular interest in Angela's protective nature over her sister, the bond the girls clearly shared, and then he had his plan.**

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed that! Please leave a review! This will be a three shot! So comment and tell me what you think so far and the next part will be out sometime this week! :D Love you all my fellow Fanfictioneers! :D


	2. Part II

Thank you all so much for the support for this story! I'm so appreciative of it thanks so much!

It's come to my attention that Jane's rant in the first part was insulting to some people. I just want to make it clear that I myself am Catholic, there is nothing wrong with people being Catholic but there is also nothing wring with people Being Protestant, Jewish, Islamic, or any other religion for that matter it's none of my business and I'll respect your religion if you respect mine.

The problem though, was that Jane calls people "Jesus Freaks", now I myself can be construed as a Jesus Freak-Mary is my homegirl lol. What she means in this statement is that there are people who take the religion too far, her point being that some make out homosexuality to be bad.

I have met a lot of people who do this, I think it's wrong and we know that the Bible does mention homosexuality but never in fact makes a statement that it is bad or wrong. If I missed something tell me, but I still think homosexuality is something that people shouldn't be ashamed of and I commend the people who proudly flaunt it and commend my fellow Catholics who don't think it's bad (I've met just as many good apples as I have bad).

All in all, Jane's point is more on the fact that people take it too steps to far with one thing but it's used to shame people, when in fact they have opportunity to use the Bible for happier things (Her point about Santa, since he's in the Bible as an actual Saint would help kids have a better idea introduce them into the Bible with a friendly view-It's Santa, how could you not love anything he's in?).

However I am truly sorry for any insults that were unintended, I hope it didn't veer you away from the story or myself as a writer. God Bless everyone, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, and many more. :)

* * *

**While the girls were busy gathering, he sent his lost boys to scope out the area and sneak up around them.**

** They came running after Jane and Angela, who fled immediately from their berry-picking, towards their cave.**

** On the way, Angela was shot by one of the boys' arrows in her leg, and couldn't keep up with Jane. When Jane went to go and help her, Angela pushed her away, commanding her to run and leave her there.**

** Jane managed to hide, seeing them take Angela prisoner to their own camp, and she at once vowed to retrieve her sister.**

** She found one of her sister's hunting traps, and recreated it to be a trap for the boys, pre-setting a false trail for her plan.**

** Jane climbed one of the trees by the camp where she could see all that was going on, and used a slingshot she found by the camp to throw rocks on the other side of the camp, making the tall grass and plants around it mimic the sound of a person coming through.**

** This made a majority of the boys leave to find the source of the noise, while Jane snuck down and knocked out the guarding boys by her sister's cage.**

** Unfortunately, when Jane began forcing the lock open, it had turned out she hadn't distracted all the boys in the camp. For in an instant, standing beside her was none other than Pan himself.**

_"What's your name?" _**he asked, though he knew the answer already.**

_"Jane A. Dare, to you."_

_ "Good name."_

** He smirked at her confidently, telling somewhat sarcastically how he admired her ability to distract his men and her determination to free her beloved sister. He asked her,**

_"Are you prepared to fight for your sister?"_

**Without hesitation she replied, **_"I'm willing to kill."_

**And this satisfied-and intrigued- him, for he had a challenge for young Jane.**

_"No one leaves this island without my permission, and I can give you that, both of you. I know you've been hiding out in the Echo Caves, so if you can race to that point before my boys can grab you I will grant you safe passage home."_

**Jane considered this, and remembered that her trap was still set; she almost smiled before replying, **_"I accept only on the condition that me and Angela get a fifteen minute head start."_

_ "And why should I grant that?"_

_ "Because I am carrying an injured girl and all you have is yourselves." _**She smirked at him challengingly, **_"And you strike me as the kind of guy who likes an even match, a fair game."_

**Pan smiled, liking her spirit, **_"You are absolutely right Jane; I do love a good fair game. Who wants an easy match anyway? I'll grant you a head start, but remember Jane, I don't like cheating. There will be no tricks on my side if there are none on yours."_

**Jane lied and promised no tricks, shaking on it, and began the game.**

** She carried Angela to the trap she'd set, and began to start setting up for luring the boys and making sure of their winning.**

** But as she set up, she heard Pan's voice behind her.**

_"What did I tell you? I don't like cheating."_

** And before she could respond, Jane saw Pan roughly kick the device and set it off incorrectly, which caused the part by Angela to fling her towards the cliff where she hung for life. Jane ran and caught her hand, holding tightly and trying to haul her up to no avail.**

** Angela knew that Jane wasn't strong enough to get her back up, and as she heard the boys nearing she saw that Jane's persistence to hold her would only serve to break her arm and therefore make her less able to escape.**

_"Jane, let me go."_

_ "No! I won't let you go!"_

**Angela sighed, **_"I love you Mei Mei."_

**Jane teared up but kept on holding her hand, thinking the boys were coming soon, **_"I love you too."_

**Then she gave a small smile, grabbed a stone, and smashed it against Jane's wrist so that Jane let her fall to her death.**

** Jane screamed for her sister, tears streaming down her face in despair, helplessly reaching for Angela.**

** She heard the boys were almost there and she ran off back to the caves, where she waited patiently before nightfall, quietly mourning her sister.**

** Pan told the boys to let her alone until midnight, when he began to play his enchanted pipe.**

** This time, Jane heard the music and was tempted to follow it, but she remembered her promise to her big sister and refrained.**

** The side effect of this was the most horrible, searing pain Jane had ever experienced. She cried out in anguish, convulsing and banging her hands against her head in a feeble effort to stop the pain.**

** It lasted all night, and in the morning she barely had enough energy to reach for her canteen of water to restore what little energy she had left.**

** Pan was angered by her mild ability to withstand the consequences of ignoring him, but he was cunning. So he visited her in The Echo Caves that morning.**

_"I've gotta say, I've never met anyone who's ever wanted to resist the pipe, let alone actually could."_

**Jane barely wheezed out, **_"So what are you gonna kill me now?"_

_ "Kill you? No, no, this is fun." _**He said, **_"I want to see just how long you'll last. Though to tell you the truth, some of the boys think you'll be right along over by next morning. What's it like anyway?"_

_ "It's like having steel grind against your bones at warp speed."_

_ "Hm, interesting. Well I'll be playing an extra special song for you tonight." _**He smirked and then disappeared.**

** So for the next two nights, he played his pipe, each time trying harder and harder to make her give in.**

** And every night, Jane screamed and cried; she withstood the pain and barely had enough energy in the morning to reach for her water beside her.**

** On the last night of Pan's attempts, her convulsions caused her to knock her canteen over the side of the cliff in the cave, leaving her without water the next morning.**

** That same morning, Jane was so weak, not having water or having been able to eat for the last few days. She knew she needed food if she was to keep withstanding the horrible pain.**

** With barely enough energy to stand, Jane limped outside to find water, and came across a stream where she knelt down to drink.**

** She looked across the river to see a camp of people, and one of them had a hook for a hand. But as she looked closer, she saw a canteen by a woman with blonde hair.**

** Though she didn't know any story that portrayed Captain Hook as a leather wearing thirty-something she was gonna stay far away from that hook as she possibly could.**

** On the other hand, Jane knew she didn't have another canteen, and what were the odds she'd find another stream let alone that same one anytime soon.**

** So she snuck over to their camp where they all slept, and managed to steal the canteen without Emma waking. However, when she tried to escape, she was caught by Hook.**

** With a little help from Mary Margaret and Charming, the group is convinced to ask her to go into Pan's camp and help them get Henry from the inside. To which Jane at first replied,**

_"Are ya kidding?"_

_ "You want a way home don't you?" _**Hook said, **_"Then I'd say you don't ask questions unless it's to clarify what we want you to do."_

_ "Oh no, I got it loud and clear. You're a bunch of fairytale characters, Peter Pan is a conniving son of a bitch, Snow White and Prince Charming's grandson was stolen by him, and you expect me to believe you're just gonna give me a passage home through a magic vegetable if I go undercover in an all boys psycho camp… Oh yeah, I got it."_

**Hook only responded with a briefly raised eyebrow and a nod as if to say, 'pretty much'. With a little more persuasion, Jane agreed to help them but made a point that 'that dressing like a boy only fools people in Shakespeare', how would they get her into the camp long enough to help?**

** They set her up to be captured by one of their traps, and waited until one of the Lost Boys came and brought her back to the camp, where they put her in a cage.**

** Jane spent a majority of time in there trying to escape, and began to make a hole in it before a boy named Felix came by to stop her. She asked if he had a key and replied that he did, but of course why would he give it to her?**

** But any good storyteller knows that where there is a key, there is a way to get it, and thought up a challenge for the boy. He agreed to a game of riddles, if she could answer his riddle correctly and he answered her's wrong, she'd earn the key and be set loose.**

** She decided to pose the same one she'd heard from the Greek tale of "Riddle of The Sphinx".**

_"What creature in its dawn has four legs, but in its dusk has three?"_

**Needless to say, he couldn't answer, which frustrated him. He posed her one that he found amusing, and confidently asked,**

_"What is the hardest key to turn?"_

**She was almost stumped, but after a minute Jane began to smile triumphantly as she replied, **

_"A donkey."_

**Angry, but willing to keep his promise, Felix let her loose on the condition that she stay close by him and was not to escape from the camp.**

** When they arrived, Jane saw a boy-whom she guessed was Henry by his clothes and minor distance from the group- sleeping by a tree. As she looked at him, shivering slightly from the cold, she was reminded by all the times Angela would comfort her in the cold and tuck her in at night.**

** So she grabbed a random cloak lying around, and placed it gently over him like a blanket, then sat next to him almost protectively. After a moment of thinking about Angela, she began humming 'She's Got A Way'.**

** She stayed by Henry, and Pan returned a few hours later to see her there.**

_"I see you've made a friend."_

_ "Kid was cold." _**Jane covered, **_"Hasn't woken up yet though." _

_"Interesting, you haven't even spoken to him, and yet you seem to care enough to stay next to him."_

_ "Maybe I'm a decent human being."_

**Pan quirked an eyebrow, **_"Well if that's the case, there are several other boys here. Perhaps they might like your 'decency'. Might as well get used to them, after all you are gonna be here a while."_

_ "How long a while?" _**She asked suspiciously.**

** Pan grabbed a sword from a pile some boys were sharpening, **_"Long enough that you'll need to know how to fight."_

**He asked her to pick a weapon and fight him, it didn't matter much to him which one she chose. However, since Jane's rudimentary knowledge of swords didn't give her much guarantee for any kind of success without any prior practice, she chose a small but sharp dagger.**

** Some of the boys laughed, but Pan was a bit surprised since most went straight for the swords-skill or no skill.**

** Bracing herself for a fight, Jane gripped her dagger, as ready as she'd ever be.**

** They circled, both challenging the other to strike first, until Peter took a swing that Jane barely missed. He swung again and hit her dagger that was held up in defense, using a mild amount of strength to push her down.**

** Jane struggled to keep him at bay, and when she felt herself getting weaker in the arms, high-kicked Pan's elbow. It didn't seem to hurt him much, but he backed off, still grinning in anticipation.**

** Finally, she took a swing at Pan for the first time; he caught her daggered hand with his own free one, bringing the sword up close to her face.**

** Her eyes glanced about to see he had his own dagger sheaved in his belt. She leaned her face in, smirking, and then head butted him as she grabbed the dagger from his belt.**

** The Lost Boys all leaned in closer, watching the excitement now that Jane held two daggers and Pan with only his sword.**

** Gaining confidence, Jane smirked back at Peter as she adjusted each dagger in hand, but he didn't seem phased-just cocky as usual.**

** She did a slight spin towards him with her armed hands, clashing briefly with his blade. He swiped at her legs, but she jumped before it hit her, then did the arm swing from before at him. **

** When she briefly lost balance, Pan took advantage of this and enclosed her with him arms, putting his sword by her neck. She tried to blindly stab him in the face with one dagger, but he grabbed that hand with his free one.**

** Jane ended up with a trapped hand, and a sword by her neck with him quite literally breathing down the back of her neck. She did however have her remaining dagger by his wrist-which might've been a bit more threatening if she knew what to do next without getting her throat sliced.**

** Pan began chuckling, along with some of the other boys who joined in, then whispered in her ear,**

_"Nice reflexes for a beginner. I could do well with someone like you around here."_

_ "I require dinner and movie first pal."_

**He laughed, **_"You're funny."_

_ "Wish I could say the same about you. I'd kill for a good laugh-" _**She smirked, turning her head to look at him, **_"Actually, let's test that theory, would you mind stepping a bit closer to this deadly instrument in my hand?"_

_ "I don't think I could get any closer." _**He smirked.**

** After an awkward moment of realizing their proximity, Jane reluctantly gave Pan back his dagger but kept the dagger she took from earlier.**

** Though Peter had been only half working at beating Jane, he was impressed by her spunk and survival instinct, she did have potential to be a good fighter. So he made sure the boys trained her, since he was preoccupied with Henry, and that she be at least a little involved with the hunting to increase her skills.**

** Unfortunately, while Jane could adapt and did well with daggers, she didn't have the necessary skills to survive. She wasn't good with regular swordplay, her hunting skills were very poor, and she often let her pride get the best of her. More than she liked to admit, she would constantly make a situation worse trying to prove she could do something she couldn't, and it tended to lose them some of the game they hunted.**

** At some point they began leaving her, though still supervised, at the camp where she did manage to keep Henry entertained. She secretly told him how she was working with his family, and soon they became very close, with Jane becoming very protective of him.**

** Multiple times, Peter and the Lost Boys would return to find him sleeping while she kept watch; Peter asked her again why she was so protective, to which she replied,**

_"It feels better to care for someone, especially when I'm of no use around here."_

_ "Well perhaps the problem is you're stuck in the past." _**He suggested, **_"I can see it in your eyes. The longing for your sister, the life you had before, there is a part of you that thinks you could still have that back."_

_ "And what's wrong with that? Dreaming about being happy?"_

_ "It's stopping you from being happy with what you have."_

_ "Which is?" _**Pan was slightly taken aback by the contempt dripping from those words; she continued, **_"What do I have here? Living eternally with a bunch of crazy-ass boys who have nothing better to do than kidnap children from their beds?"_

**He clenched his jaw, **_"What you had was a place in this camp. You're not completely useless as some of the boys would have me believe, I know better. You're smart, and resourceful, and I must say with a few days hard work I could turn you into a real fighter-a hero."_

**He glared, **_"Or perhaps you'd like to prove me wrong? Maybe in spite of the fact you have nothing to go back to, even if you could, you'd trade an opportunity like this for a life of emptiness and misery… if that's what you want, then you can be assured, I'll be happy to escort you off the island myself."_

**That night she spoke to Henry, telling him Pan's threats to make her leave. Even though that was her goal in this whole mirage for the Lost Boys, if he sent her away now, she couldn't help Henry. And from the way Pan spoke, she had a feeling that the clock was ticking every second she didn't prove herself useful.**

** But Henry suggested, **_"Use your talent for storytelling."_

_ "What?"_

_ "You told me you loved telling your sister stories, you made a living doing so, that's something you're good at."_

_ "Henry, it's a nice thought, but given that we are surrounded by boys with weapons on a magical island that keeps your young, I'd say they have better things to do than listen to some bed time stories."_

_ "Just try it, what have you got to lose right now?"_

**Jane agreed to try, but was reluctant to do so, not having high hopes for this escapade.**

** They planned it so that it would seem like an accident of sorts. Where Henry asked Jane to tell him a story, taking a while in and of itself since she kept reverting to classic tales like Cinderella or Snow White, but finally she began her tale called "The Maiden & The Selkie".**

** She had stood up in front of the boy, drawing minor attention, until she spoke and the volume got a little louder for everyone to hear.**

** It was looking bleak, but a couple of the younger boys listened, with one or two stepping over to get a better view of her performance.**

** As the story unfolded, the youngest all swarmed around her, looking in slight awe at her animated movements illustrating the story. Though the older ones had no interest in the tale itself, they listened in a little to see what the fuss was all about.**

** Once the tale was done, the youngest- a scruffy little blonde boy of eight- came up and asked Jane for another tale.**

** Touched by the boy's interest, and the approval of the request from the other children, she agreed and thought of a tale to attract some of the older boys.**

** She told the story of "The Grandmother's Tale", an older version of Little Red Ridinghood. But it was much more gory and suspenseful than the last, so now some of the teenagers sat down next to the littler boys.**

** The oldest ones were less enthusiastic, especially with work to be done, looking on at her antics with rolled eyes and slight annoyance. But if Jane looked in their direction, sometimes she'd catch them looking over with something akin to interest on their faces.**

** Once again, it came to the climactic ending of the tale, which was quiet and creepy.**

** She jumped a little when she heard a slow clap, and turned around to see Peter Pan walking over with a smirk on his face.**

_"Impressive." _**He said circling her, **_"I had no idea you liked to tell stories."_

**Peter never heard Jane tell a story in all the time she'd been there, not even to her sister when they came. Jane hadn't told one tale for so long, her whereabouts depressing her somewhat, so it was only Angela's lullaby for the last few nights.**

_ "Old habit."_

**Peter simply kept smirking, **_"I hope to get better acquainted with your habits."_

** Jane snorted lightly, rolling her eyes a bit as she shook her head at him. He came over to her, and whispered briefly, **_"Well done, Lost Girl."_

**She shrugged away from him, an impassive look set on her face. But soon it fell when she heard him hum that Billy Joel song she loved so much, and she felt anger stir up in her.**


	3. Part III

Okay, before you read, I want everyone to know how thrilled I am that you seem to like this story! I love you all! Thank you so much! And on other topics, I did say orginally this would be a three part but I couldn't put it all together like I originally had so now this is a four part, so next one is definitely the last one.

Thank you all!

* * *

**After the storytelling session, Jane went over to a target and began throwing daggers at it, though her aim was fairly far from the bull's eye.**

_"You're throwing too low." _**Said Peter's voice from behind her.**

** She kept throwing, not caring to look behind her as she replied angrily, **_"Where do you get off bringing up things you ought not to know." _

_"I thought you liked dreaming about that stuff?"_

_ "I do, but only because you got no place there." _**Her twang slowly becoming evident in her voice.**

_"No wrath like a woman scorned." _**He said, standing a few yards beside her, **_"But to be fair, there is no place in the present for Angela either."_

**In a second, Jane turned to him and threw a dagger at his chest, seething as she did so. However, Pan caught the dagger one-handedly and twirled the blade in his hands afterwards. Jane raised an eyebrow briefly and said,**

_"Cool. Can I just use you as my target?"_

**But instead of an annoyed look, Peter's interest seemed evident on his face. Seeing her confused reaction, he said,**

_"Only if you tell me about yourself. About who you were before you became our new lost one." _**He saw her reluctance and smirked playfully, **_"Come on. What else have you got to lose? Besides, who knows, you may actually hit me."_

**Jane sighed, but decided to just go with it, liking her chances of severely injuring him. He stood proud and impassive as she readied a dagger to throw at him.**

_"What do you wanna know?" _**She asked, throwing the dagger, which he caught.**

_"Anything really." _**He tossed her back the dagger, **_"How about that song? What's so special about it?"_

_ "It was something Angela sang to me." _

**He took a breath as he caught her next dagger, **_"But why? Why did she sing that particular one to you? Doesn't sound much like a lullaby to me."_

**Jane kept her eyes locked on his, her face cold but her eyes beginning to look sad, **_"When our parents left, I had nightmares about Angela leaving too. And after one bad sister fight I thought it was gonna come true."_

**He nodded, catching her next dagger, **_"So what happened?"_

_ "She heard me cry that night, and I told her about the dreams. She laughed and asked if I was that stupid."_

**He raised an eyebrow before she clarified, **_"Because she said that I was the only reason she stayed when they were around, why would she leave now that they were gone?"_

_ "She didn't get along with your parents?"_

**She shook her head, **_"As I got older and gained some perspective, I realized that I barely remember a time I didn't hear them yelling at each other-don't remember what about though. So I asked her why she loved me so much, since she said earlier that I was being such a pain in the ass."_

**Both Jane and Peter chuckled under their breath at that, **_"She said it was hard to explain, but no matter what, a part of her would always love me and that part would always keep her there with me. So every night, when I had that nightmare, she sang that song to remind me that she would always be there." _

_ "Even years after I grew out of that dream, she'd still sing it when something bad happened at school, and once in a while I'd wake up to find her hugging me and humming it. I knew it was because something bad happened to her because she would be crying, and I was always afraid she'd be embarrassed so I'd pretend to still be asleep until she left or fell asleep herself."_

**By that point, Jane stopped throwing daggers at him, and sat down on a log-bench that was by the target tree. She looked like she was about to cry, but she kept blinking back tears and sniffling slightly to cover it.**

_"I know why I didn't hear the music the first time, it didn't take long to figure out once I did." _**She paused, **_"But why did she hear it?"_

**Peter's gaze hardened when she asked, even though he knew it was rhetorical. He sat beside her as he thought about what to say next.**

_"Jane, when you lost your parents, didn't you feel unloved?"_

_ "Only when I fought with Angela. I don't remember them much."_

_ "Well just because you don't remember doesn't mean that you didn't feel that way." _**He pointed out, **_"Otherwise you wouldn't have had those dreams. I think Angela just still carried that with her, it had nothing to do with her loving you."_

_ "Well if that was true why did she feel so unloved that the pipe was heard by her?" _**She began to let tears fall, **_"I wasn't a good sister. I lied to her, and I didn't have a problem with it. I never tried to help her, but I always could count on her to listen to me complain and complain."_

**She stifled a loud sob, **_"I had all I needed and still I complained. She put up with all that for years, and I was just so selfish."_

**He let her cry a minute, gently putting a hand on her shoulder to soothe her. She calmed a bit but the tears still fell.**

_"Jane. I have no doubt that your sister knew how much you loved her, and no doubt you did."_

_ "How would you know?"_

_ "Because no person who didn't love someone would repeatedly lie, and cheat, and do everything in their power to retrieve that person. No matter the outcome, you kept coming back for her, just like she did for you."_

**She didn't say anything, so Peter thought of something else.**

_"You know I spoke to your sister before you came."_

_ "You did?"_

_ "Of course." _**He smiled, **_"I am the ruler of this island you know."_

_ "What did she say?"_

**He shrugged, **_"Not much, at first she just ignored me. Then she called me an evil bastard and commanded me to leave you alone or she'd 'come back and haunt my ass'."_

**Jane giggled a little, **_"Never mess with the girl who yelled at a New York gang member and made it out alive."_

**Peter looked fairly confused and Jane let out a real laugh, **_"Long story."_

**Then Peter laughed, **_"We've got plenty of time. This is Neverland Jane, time isn't an issue anymore."_

**For the next few days, Jane told her stories and trained with Pan frequently, and secretly continued sending messages to the Storybrooke group. Now that her imagination and talent for storytelling was appreciated, and in some cases needed, Jane had never felt more comfortable in her own skin than she did in Neverland.**

** After a while, she had become actually fairly pleasant, a certainly different change in attitude from her usual snarky troublemaker antics- and not the kind that were welcomed in Neverland.**

** She had become in charge of storytelling, watching Henry, and sewing for the boys. In Jane's words 'Being the only one on the island with a vagina instantly means she's their mother' but it didn't really help her cause when she admitted she did know how to sew basic things and make repairs.**

** However, her sewing tools were less than useful and she often tried to ask Pan for better ones but was constantly ignored or distracted by something else going on. **

** Pan noticed her change in attitude as well, and probably most of all, as he saw how she took to life on the island. He liked to come along and talk to her as she ran across the beach by the camp.**

_"Well look at the Island Princess." _**He smiled as he watched her relax on one of the rocks.**

** She smiled back, **_"Princess? Who are you kidding, I'm a queen!"_

_ "And what makes you think that?"_

_ "Well, given I'm the only chick around here whose basically keeping you guys in line. And not to mention my minimum wage body guards follow me around for an uncomfortable amount of time."_

_ "Well in that case." _**He bowed dramatically, holding out a hand, **_"Your king is at your service, my lady."_

**She laughed, taking his hand and replying in an overdramatic British accent, **_"Charmed, I'm sure. I don't know why I suddenly became British but it seemed appropriate."_

_ "Just don't overdo it." _**He laughed, pulling her along the shore, playing along with her dramatic voice, **_"Does the morning not look splendid my lady?"_

_ "Indeed my lord, divine. It's nice to have a few private moments like this."_

_ "Do you not love your loyal subjects?" _**He asked, mocking a look of shock.**

** She got snarkier tone to her voice, **_"Well you try having ripped cloaks and other clothing thrown into an already never-ending pile of things to fix."_

_ "Jane you have your own section of work, everyone else has their own."_

_ "Yes but its degrading, and I can't get even a little respect from the others."_

_ "I thought you said you were queen of the island? Don't you have all the respect you need? You're the only girl we've ever invited to stay with us."_

_ "Well that's funny since I never actually got an 'invitation', more like a bad remake of the well scene from The Ring Two grabbing me out of my bed in the middle of the night."_

**His gaze turned colder, **_"We've been very welcoming to you Jane."_

_ "I refer back to my Ring Two comment."_

**Finally Peter hissed in frustration, **_"Well what do you want from me Jane?!"_

**Jane looked him in the eye for a moment, her jaw clenched and eyes glaring, then replied simply, **_"Needles."_

_ "… Needles, Jane?"_

_ "Yes. Like a lady needs for her sewing." _**She turned away and began to stomp off, but then stopped to look back at him, **_"I may not hunt well or at all, for that matter. The only thing I know about swords is which end to hold, and yeah telling a good folk tale may not be bringing home bacon right now. But I'm the one who's been cooking the meat that you bring; I'm the one who's been there to cease unnecessary infighting among the boys since you don't seem to care. And lastly, I'm the one maintaining the clothes on your back because frankly none of you were doing that well before I came unlike the other stuff. _

_ "I know what my part is. But I will not be disposable to you, I don't care if you're a part of the island by magical means or just have a big fat ego, I deserve some respect for my part because I think I've been very respectful of yours so far given the circumstances. I have made an effort._

_ "I come here to get away, to have a small bit of time to myself because I've tried to say nothing but you know what I need that shred of respect. You can hate me and never speak to me unless it's to tell me about a forest fire, but have the decency to respect my part in the camp, because I think I do a damn good job of it."_

**After that, she waited for Pan to say something, but he only nodded and started off. Jane followed his example and did the same, heading off to check on the boys and Henry, with the exception of a few (namely Felix, who found her annoying but said nothing) she had grown somewhat attached to the boys-particularly the younger ones she told stories to.**

** Within an hour, it was story time for the boys, and Jane decided to tell one that reminded her of her circumstances-said to be a true story by some.**

_"Once Upon A Time, there was a grand kingdom, ruled by a mighty king though in his land he was called a sultan._

_ "He had a beautiful wife whom he adored and loved with all his heart, but one night found her with another man in the royal palace."_

**Some of the boys looked sympathetic, sad to see how someone the sultan loved so much would betray him like that. **

_"So in a fit of rage he killed his wife and her lover, and then proceeded to kill every woman in his harem except his own mother."_

**Suddenly the boys became unsympathetic and shocked, a good few even turned frightened.**

_"He vowed that no woman would ever take his heart again, and set his revenge upon all women, whom he now believed to all be cheating disloyal and evil. He sent his royal vizier out every morning to find a new bride for him, and in the afternoon they would be married, and then in the dead of night he would kill her."_

**Jane heard a small shriek from a small boy and even the older boys had their eyes widened in fear or disgust.**

_"And this went on for many days, even weeks. Until one day the vizier's two daughters concocted a plan."_

_ "Where they gonna kill him?" _**One boy asked.**

_"No, but the eldest daughter Shahrazad went to her father and asked, 'Father do you love me?' And her father replied, 'Yes, of course I love you, I would give you and your sister my life.' And once again she asked, 'Would you grant me any request, and swear on your honor you would grant it?' so the father said 'Yes, yes, I swear my child now tell me what request.'_

_ "And Shahrazad said, 'Take me as the next wife.'"_

_ "What?!" _**Cried all the boys.**

** Jane nodded a sight agreement to the boys and continued, **_"The vizier said in fear, 'No, no I cannot do that! He will kill you!' but she replied, 'Father trust me.' 'No, please do not ask that of me.' He lamented, but she sighed and reminded him 'Father you swore upon your honor.' And this grown man, with his grown daughter, cried. For he knew he swore on his honor, and he could not break that._

_ "So the next morning, when the sultan asked who the next wife would be the vizier replied, 'My eldest daughter.' The sultan warned him, 'Do not think she'll be treated any differently because she is _your _daughter.' And the vizier replied softly, 'I did not expect otherwise.'"_

_ "So what happened?" _**The boys and Jane all turned to see Peter, leaning against a tree with a mild manner, **_"What happened on the wedding night?"_

_ "Well, after the ceremony, they ate privately in their wedding chambers as was done with all the other wives. However, Shahrazad asked the sultan to hear a last request of her's, and he agreed asking what she wanted."_

**Peter nodded, sitting down next to one of the boys-all of whom were staring at him with wide uncertain eyes, but he kept his own gaze fixed on Jane, **_"What did she want?"_

**The next part came hard for Jane, she needed to take a breath before replying, **_"Shahrazad said, 'O King, I love my sister very much, and would only desire to spend my last few hours with her.'"_

**Peter's eye softened, and he nodded for her to continue. She stopped looking at him and continued after another moment taken to breathe.**

_"Thinking this but a small request the king-"_

_ "I thought the king was called a sultan." _**One boy whispered to another, then was promptly told to hush up.**

** Jane searched the group for Henry who nodded in understanding of the change, and gave her a supporting smile to help her courage. She smiled back in thanks briefly before returning to the tale.**

_"The king, had his men send for her sister that night. Shahrazad thanked him profusely and then quickly went off to spend what would seem her last hours with her sister."_

**Pan noticed her wording of 'what would seem' in regards to Shahrazad, and leaned forward with slightly peaked interest clear on his face.**

_"While the king let the women talk and be in each other's company, he stayed in the back to watch them and to be there to let Shahrazad know when it was time. But when the night fell pitch black, and she knew he would be ready to kill her, Shahrazad granted her little sister's request for a story."_

**Jane peered out of the corner of her eye at Pan, whose face became unreadable along with some of the other boys. **

_"And so she began this miraculous tale, about a man who was sitting under a palm tree in the hot desert sun, calmly picking out seeds from a fruit he was about to eat and throwing them carelessly over his shoulder. But then a magic genie, a djinn who appeared before the man furious and vengeful! He told the man that with his careless throwing one of the seeds flew into his son's eye and blinded him, and that he would kill him for the crime against his son._

_ "The man pleaded his apologizes to the mighty djinn, but his words would not sway the djinn, until the man said, 'Please might djinn, at least allow me to go home and set my affairs in order before my death!' and the djinn considered and replied, 'Fine, starting now you have one day to set your affairs in order. But if you do not return by this time tomorrow I shall find you and kill your family with you!"_

_ "The man thanked the djinn for his mercy and returned home, telling his wife and children about the djinn and saying goodbye to them for the last time. The next morning, as the man headed back to the palm tree where he'd had the misfortune of meeting the djinn, he saw two men guiding a cow to market. They asked him where he was going and he told them about the djinn and that he was to meet his death, and they said, 'Do you mind if we come along? Things like these are hardly ever heard of, and perhaps we might be of some help.'"_

**The boys all looked at each other in confusion; who would want to witness a man's death simply because it was by a djinn? It might've been sporting in battle or something, but what was the point in this case? It was clear none of the boys thought the men could or would help.**

** Jane went on, **_"The man agreed, saying that it would be nice to have some company before death, and led them to the palm tree where the djinn was waiting for them. However, the man holding the cow approached the djinn and said, 'Sir, would you consider letting this man live if I told you a good story?' and the djinn replied, 'I might, but it must be a good tale or else you would die with him.' 'Well that's fine, just fine.' The man with the cow said, 'You see this cow? Well this is no ordinary cow, he can speak and he saved a man's life with his gift of speech.'"_

**Just then Jane stopped talking and waited for a reaction. One of the older boys, who seemed to have become quite invested asked, **_"Well did it work? What happened?"_

_ "We don't know. For at just that point in the story, Shahrazad stopped telling and lamented it was too long a tale to finish in one night. Then the king stepped forward, after listening to her and simply replied, 'You may live one more night.'"_

_ "And the next night?" _**Henry asked.**

_"Same thing. Every night the sultan and Shahrazad ate, then her sister arrived for more of the story, and she always ended on a cliffhanger to ensure another night since the sultan always watched from the back."_

**There was a collection of nods of understanding amongst the boys, now fully grasping the elaborate ruse on Shahrazad's part. There was even some clear signs of admiration from them as to the character's cleverness in the whole thing.**

_"This same routine went on for exactly 1,001 nights until finally the king realized, that this was a kind, intelligent, and brave woman that he respected." _**Jane's eyes flickered back to Peter, **_"And he told her that she was pardoned, she would only tell a tale if she pleased, but no harm would ever come to her by his hand or any other's for he loved her even more than his previous wife-or any wife he'd ever had."_

**There were no claps at the end of the tale, all eyes went to Peter for approval as his expression hadn't changed. Jane's heart sped up as he got up from his seat and walked towards her, his cold eyes never leaving her's-but she stood her ground and refused to show fear.**

_"And did she accept? Did she love him as much as he did?" _**One step closer, **_"Or did she betray him like his first wife?"_

**Jane's face turned sympathetic, and even she didn't quite understand why, something in his eyes made her feel… Pity, or something akin to it. After a moment she cleared her throat, looking down at the ground as she replied, **_"Yes, for time had done the same for her."_

**She looked back up at him and searched his face for some readable expression, but there was none, that she could determine anyway.**

** Without a word, he turned on his foot and left the camp for the woods. The boys all quietly returned to their previous activities, whispering to each other about the exchange they'd witnessed.**

** Jane sat down at the base of a nearby tree to breathe, her nerves finally making her reveal how scared she'd been. Henry walked over and said comfortingly, **_"You did great. I really enjoyed it."_

_ "It was too preachy. Something's not right Henry, he suspects or something, I don't like this-it wasn't meant to be this way!"_

_ "You're just stressed, don't worry, my family won't let anything happen to you I promise."_

**And with that she nodded and let herself drift off to sleep.**

** When she woke, she found herself in a bed, and with further investigation saw she was in an entire room. It was small and clearly underground somewhere, but for what it was seemed cozy and well put together.**

** She got out of bed to look around and saw in a small kitchen like area atop the small table was a wrapped package of sorts. Jane picked up the small thing and unwrapped it to reveal a set of sewing scissors, and two small pouches of pins and needles.**

** As she began to laugh at the sight, she heard a cough from behind her. Sure enough, Peter Pan stood by her bed, arms crossed casually.**

_"I thought the beach was too easily invaded for any privacy you might desire, this-" _**He spread his arms out briefly, **_"is all yours."_

_ "Thanks." _**She held up the sewing kit, **_"For all this, thank you."_

_ "It was no problem, didn't take but a moment out of my time, given where we are." _

** He started toward the small door that led outside, then turned back, **_"And for the record. I do respect you for doing a 'damn good job at your part.'"_

**They both cracked a smile as he left, leaving Jane to her thoughts-and to her sewing.**

** A few hours later, after exploring her little house-that she found was in the base of the tree she'd been sleeping on- Jane took Pan's absence from the camp to go and make her daily report to Hook and the others.**

** Whenever she could, she snuck away from camp to the Echo Caves where he would be waiting for a status update, sometimes with Emma or the others.**

_"Hows it going? Your place in Pan's camp is safe I hope?"_

**She nodded, **_"Yes, and Henry's fine. But I'm worried."_

_ "Why what happened?"_

_ "Nothing, but that's my point. Why hasn't he done anything yet? It doesn't make any sense."_

**Killian raised an eyebrow, **_"Are you suggesting we end our little mission?"_

_ "Hardly, I don't trust him with a ten foot pole, but I'm worried about what's he planning."_

_ "Well that's good then." _**He said, **_"With that thinking you'll always be prepared for when he strikes. Pan is ruthless."_

_ "I'm well aware."_

_ "He plays with people, like dolls. All in effort for his 'game'."_

**Jane glared, seeing his underlying message, and then repeated, **_"I'm well aware." _**Afterwards she turned tail and stormed off.**

_"Jane!" _**Hook said sympathetically, **_"Just watch your back."_

**She nodded still backing off slowly, **_"I always do."_

**Pan glared at the pair as he watched Jane walk off, and whispered to himself, **_"Clearly not."_


End file.
